Many boats including, for example, typical sailboats, do not come equipped with radios, stereos or other audio equipment. Owners of such boats, in many cases, would enjoy the opportunity to have battery operated audio equipment installed in their boats. Such audio equipment could provide entertainment, thereby enhancing the boating experience, and could also be used to obtain weather and other information related to boater safety.
Installing such equipment, though, is problematic. In particular, mountings for audio speakers such as designed for automobiles typically include screws, bolts or other fasteners that are designed for attachment to metal or wood frame members. The fasteners are generally attached by drilling into or otherwise penetrating the supporting frame member. Such mounting is undesirable for boat installations for a number of reasons. First, many boat owners are reluctant to drill holes in boat surfaces for fear that they will be unable to adequately seal the holes and water may be allowed to leak into the boat body. In addition, the outer surfaces of boats are commonly formed from wood, fiberglass or other light weight materials that are not well-suited to support weight or that may be prone to cracking, or other damage as a result of drilling installation holes and/or supporting weight. In particular, the outer protective cover or gel coat of fiberglass surfaces is prone to developing cracks that radiate outwardly from puncture holes.
In other cases, speakers are mounted on deck rails or the like where the speakers can snag boat lines or where the speaker wires may get in the way. In addition, such rail mountings generally do not allow for easy speaker repositioning and are typically directed only to deck area entertainment. Moreover, it is desirable that boat speakers be installed for easy removal because speakers may be damaged due to continuous exposure to the elements. Easy removal would also facilitate secure storage, thereby reducing opportunities for theft or vandalism.